Sunday, February 22, 2009

It's a trick question. Although it looks like 8 different layers, it is actually only 2. Yes 2!!

Although I've actually done this before I had not used digital elements for quite some time. Well over at StampTV.com Melanie posted a super cool card this morning showing that you can layer the papers on your computer and print. This would solve the issue for those of us that can't use less than a million layers on our cards and want to send them in the mail.

So how did I do it?

I used digital patterned paper from the Floral Frenzy Kit. I used shadows for each of my photoshop layers to make it look more realistic. I used the oval selection tool to 'cut out' the brown oval and then used the oval shape tool to make a white oval. I also pulled the yellow color from the yellow PP to make the plain yellow matte. But look closely; it is textured. Yep, I used the texturizer tool to make it burlap textured. Once I had all of my layers set in Photoshop, I printed it out on Gina K Pure Luxury White 80lb. card stock. I trimmed it down. Then I stamped the flowers from Framed Flowers using the thumping technique in the white square box. I stamped the sentiment from Thinking of You with Dark Brown Chalk Ink in the oval. I added some ChocolateTaffeta Ribbon and a few Dew Drops. I mounted the digital/stamped layer onto a Always Artichoke 4 1/4" square card base. Always Artichoke matches the green paper in the pack very nicely.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

I was reading a thread over at SplitCoastStampers the other week about women who were trying to make their own flowers like the crocheted flowers in the new Stampin' Up catalog. I was intrigued. I cannot crochet to save my life, but my mom can. :o) So the light bulb was illuminated. I printed some of the directions shared and bought some yarn and crochet thread. I took everything to my mom and she made me some gorgeous flowers. I finally had a chance to use one of them. Here is a card using a double layer pink flower. I added a 1/2" white circle with a chocolate brown brad and a little pink rhinestone in the middle. Oh, and that gorgeous PP is from a new digital paper pack from Gina K Designs. She just opened a new site called StampTV.com and she will be releasing kits throughout the year. This digital paper pack is a part of her first kit Floral Frenzy. I of course ordered mine right away. I can't wait to get it. She is offering this paper pack and one other for free. So head on over to her blog to get yours and while you are there you better order your kit.

I bought a new Inkadinkadoo set from AC Moore last week called Gemstone Insects. I just love the butterfly stamps included in this set. The large butterfly stamp is my favorite. I also purchased some Patterned Paper because AC Moore had all paper and card stock 40% off. Who could resist that deal, right?

My first card contains an Old Olive base and the PP is Basic Grey Perhaps - Beatrice. I used my circle cutter for the large circles and the matte for the small circle. I punched the smallest white circle using my 1 1/4" punch. I like how the small Stampin' Up hardware flowers fit the inside of the riveting stamps perfectly. I stamped the large butterfly with chalk ink to get a good impression with the clear stamp. I aged it a bit with Tea Dye Distressing Ink. I also added some stitching on the PP square and the large circle.

For this second card I was going for a clean and simple look. I stamped the large butterfly in chalk ink to get the best impression. I cut a large circle from Basic Grey Two Scoops - Swirl and trimmed the bottom and right edge. I used some wide Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon. I stamped Celebrate Today from Simple Sayings (SU retired) and added a small blue rhinestone for the 'O' in Today. I also added small blue rhinestones to the butterfly'santennae. The card base is Gina K Pure Luxury 120 lb. weight card stock. It is very sturdy for a card base.

For my last card I used more Basic Grey Perhaps - Beatrice. The piece I cut had some gray that looks good with Basic Gray from Stampin' Up. I stamped the butterfly with trailing bubbles and flowers directly onto the PP with Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the bubbles and flowers with Copic markers and added some Stickles. I stamped just the butterfly on more of the PP, highlighted parts of the butterfly with Copic markers and cute it out. I attached it using 3M foam tape to add dimension. I cut the ribbon tag with Nestabilities Tag Trio (I finally bought some Nestabilities dies). Added a little ribbon to either end with some brads and here it is.

Friday, February 20, 2009

I made two cards tonight for VSN. I used My Cuppa Joe for both. The first card was for FEB09VSNB challenge. There were different color combinations to choose from based on your favorite type of chocolate. My favorite chocolate is Milk Chocolate with a hint of Dark Chocolate. So the color combo was Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red and Almost Amethyst. Here is the card I created:

The next card I made for challenge FEB09VSNA. The hostess provided a sketch and we were supposed to include things we love. I includedStarbucks - I cut out the logo from a cup wrap-around I saved. I knew these would come in handy some time ;) LOL!Coffee - Kind of a given with my love of starbucks.Chocolate - I love the flavor and the color.Pink - It especially looks good with chocolate.Bling - I added some little rhinestones because they are so cool.and I used Gina K Design stamps because I love them as well.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you have at least one person you can share Valentine's Day with. My best friend who is a guy is coming over to celebrate with me. I'm making dinner and yummy brownies for dessert. Then we'll watch a movie and who knows what else. I can't wait. I need to finish his card today. But I thought I would post a card for everyone out there that may stumble across this post.

I used an old retired set from Stampin' Up called From the Heart. It was one of the first sets I ever bought from SU. I colored the girl and kitty with Copics and Prismacolor Markers. The DP is from Target's Dollar Spot. I added some pink Stickles to the hearts in her dress and the big heart in her hands. I added some cute little puffy hearts to the circle sentiment and the kitty's collar. The metal flower from SU fit perfectly inside the circle sentiment. I draped ribbon across two of the corners and added a few brands to finish it off.

Have a fantastic day and remember on this day of Love that Jesus loves you unconditionally.